Transferring content between a ground based content server and an aircraft based content server via content fragments distributed across courier electronic devices

ABSTRACT

A ground based content server transfers content to an aircraft based content server via courier devices that are transported by aircraft passengers. Content files to be delivered to a target aircraft are identified. Courier devices associated with persons scheduled to become passengers on the target aircraft are identified. Each of the content files are divided into content fragments, where the content fragments collectively contain all data necessary for reassembling the content files. The content fragments are distributed from the ground based content server across the courier devices, so that each courier device is distributed one of the content fragments containing data that is at least partially redundant with data contained in one of the content fragments that is distributed to at least one other one of the courier devices and that is not redundant to data contained in other content fragments distributed to still other ones of the courier devices.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/210,648, filed on Jul. 14, 2016, the disclosure and contentof which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to systems for transferring contentbetween a ground based computer server and an aircraft based or othervehicle based computer content server.

BACKGROUND

In-flight entertainment (IFE) systems have been deployed onboardaircraft to provide entertainment for passengers in a passenger cabin.The in-flight entertainment systems typically provide passengers with,movies, television, and audio entertainment programming.

Updating content files in IFE systems can require a large amount of datato be transferred between ground based content servers and aircraftbased content servers. In an upload direction, movie and televisionprograms, weather reports, news reports, electronic publications andother content can be amongst the types of content that must betransferred from a ground based content server to an aircraft's on-boardcontent server. In the download direction, it is desirable to transfercontent generated during the flight, including IFE usage statistics,food inventory reports, product inventory reports, and electronicsystems health monitoring reports from the aircraft based content serverto the ground based content server upon each arrival of the aircraft toan airport terminal.

For an aircraft equipped with a wireless data communication subsystem,some content files can be uploaded or downloaded through wireless datalinks during flight or upon arrival at an airport. Wireless ground datalinks can be installed at airports but the cost of deployment andmaintenance can be prohibitively expensive. For these and other reasonsmany airports around the world do not have wireless ground data linksystems or have systems that provide insufficient communicationbandwidth to enable completion of large content file transfers while anaircraft remains at the airports between flights. Moreover, theper-megabyte usage cost of subscriber-based ground and satellite datalinks, e.g., licensed cellular/satellite based systems, can beprohibitively expensive to use for many types of large content filetransfers.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a methodperformed by at least one processor of a ground based content server totransfer content to a vehicle based content server. Content files to bedelivered to a vehicle based content server on a target vehicle areidentified. Courier electronic devices that are associated with personswho are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle areidentified. Each of the content files are divided into contentfragments, where the content fragments collectively contain all datanecessary for reassembling the content files. The content fragments aredistributed from memory of the ground based content server across memoryof the courier electronic devices that have been identified. Thedistributing is performed so that each of the courier electronic devicesis distributed one of the content fragments containing data that is atleast partially redundant with data contained in one of the contentfragments that is distributed to at least one other one of the courierelectronic devices and that is not redundant to data contained in otherones of the content fragments that are distributed to still other onesof the courier electronic devices.

Some other embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to amethod performed by at least one processor of a vehicle based contentserver to receive content files provided by a ground based contentserver. The method discovers presence of content fragments stored inmemory of courier electronic devices that have been transported onto thevehicle by passengers and which have established communication linkswith the vehicle based content server. The content fragments are fetchedfrom the courier electronic devices, responsive to the discovering. Thecontent files are assembled by combining at least some of the contentfragments. Content of the content files is provided to video displayunits operated by passengers.

Some other embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to amethod performed by at least one processor of a courier electronicdevice to transfer content between a ground based content server and avehicle based content server. A scheduling message is communicated tothe ground based content server indicating an upcoming flight schedulefor a person who possesses the courier electronic device. A contentfragment is received from the ground based content server responsive tothe scheduling message, the content fragment containing an incompletefragment of a content file. A communication link is established with thevehicle based content server, and the content fragment is transferred tothe vehicle based content server. A listing of content files, which areavailable for on-demand consumption through the courier electronicdevice and which includes the content file assembled based on thecontent fragment, is received from the vehicle based content server. Thelisting of content files is displayed on a display device of the courierelectronic device.

Other methods, computer program products, and/or systems according toembodiments of the inventive subject matter will be or become apparentto one with skill in the art upon review of the following drawings anddetailed description. It is intended that all such additional methods,computer program products, and/or systems be included within thisdescription, be within the scope of the present inventive subjectmatter, and be protected by the accompanying claims. Moreover, it isintended that all embodiments disclosed herein can be implementedseparately or combined in any way and/or combination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features of embodiments will be more readily understood from thefollowing detailed description of specific embodiments thereof when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a content distribution system thattransfers content files between a ground based server and aircraft basedcontent servers via content fragments that are distributed acrosscourier electronic devices for transportation onboard and off-board theaircraft, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an aircraft on-board content distributionsystem that transfers content fragments between onboard courierelectronic devices and an aircraft based content server, in accordancewith some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of operational components of the ground basedcontent server of FIG. 1 that generate and distribute content fragmentsto courier electronic devices for transport onboard a target aircraft,in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of operational components of the aircraftbased content server of FIG. 1 that receive content fragments fromonboard courier electronic devices and reassemble the original contentfiles, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a combined flowchart and data flow diagram that illustratesoperations and data transfers between a passenger electronic device, aground based content server, and an aircraft based content server inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a content server configured to operateaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a courier electronic device configured tooperate according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of thepresent disclosure. However, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that the present invention may be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures,components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not toobscure the present invention. It is intended that all embodimentsdisclosed herein can be implemented separately or combined in any wayand/or combination.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to innovativeways for transferring content files from a ground based content serverto vehicle based content servers using courier electronic devices, suchas passengers' mobile phones. Although embodiments herein are primarilydescribed in the context of transferring content files to and/or from anaircraft based content server that is part of an In-flight entertainment(IFE) system deployed onboard on an aircraft, the invention is notlimited thereto. Instead, these and other related embodiments may beused to transfer content files to and/or from content servers located inother types of vehicles, including without limitation, trains,automobiles, cruise ships, and buses.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a content distribution system thattransfers content files between a ground based server 110 and anaircraft 150 based content server 160 via content fragments that aredistributed across courier electronic devices 100 for transportationonboard and off-board the aircraft 150, in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, an IFE, system provides entertainment services forpassengers in a passenger cabin of the aircraft 150. The IFE systemincludes a content server 160 that stores content files which mayinclude movies, television programming, games, applications, electronicbooks/magazines, etc. The aircraft based content server 160 can streamand/or download content of the content files to video display units(VDUs) that are installed within seatbacks and attached to seatarmrests/frames, bulkheads, overhead structures, or elsewhere within thecabin. The content server 160 may additionally or alternatively streamand/or download content of the content files to VDUs of courierelectronic devices 100 that are transported by passengers and/or crewmembers onboard and off the aircraft 150. Other content files that canbe uploaded to the content server 160 can include airline operationsdata, flight related data including a passenger manifest, etc.

Passengers may also be provided in-flight shopping services through theseat VDUs and the courier electronic devices 100 based on productcatalogs that are downloaded from the aircraft based content server 160.The content server 160 may include a product sales application thatoperates to allow passengers to purchase products through the seat VDUsand/or the courier electronic devices 100, and which stores productinventory listings and purchase transaction information for subsequenttransfer to the ground based content server 110 and/or another contentserver.

The content server 160 may be communicatively connected to the seat VDUsand/or the courier electronic devices 100 through a wired data network(e.g., Ethernet cabling and electronic network interfaces) and/or awireless data network. An example wireless data network is illustratedin FIG. 1 that includes a plurality of wireless access points (WAPs) 152that are installed (mounted) at spaced apart locations within theaircraft 150 fuselage to provide corresponding wireless communicationservice cells. The WAPs 152 communicate through a wireless air interfacethat can be based on one or more communication protocols including,without limitation, any one or more of IEEE 802.11, WIMAX, 3GPP LongTerm Evolution (LTE), etc.

The courier electronic devices 100 can include, without limitation,tablet computers, laptop computers, palmtop computers, cellular smartphones, media players, etc. When owned by a passenger, a courierelectronic device 100 can also be referred to as a passenger electronicdevice (PED).

The aircraft 150 may also include a ground data link interface 170 thatis configured to provide wireless data communications through asatellite communication system and/or through direct aircraft-to-groundcommunication links. The ground data link interface 170 may be anyground connectivity system that provides data communicationscapabilities for aircraft within range of ground based communicationsnetwork equipment located at airports, using radio transceiver circuitslocated onboard the aircraft and at airports (e.g., at gate locations).The wireless communications may be performed using IEEE 802.11, WIMAX,and/or 3GPP LTE technologies. The aircraft can be recognized by theground network when it arrives at an airport or gate, and acommunication link can be established between the aircraft based contentserver 160 and a ground based content server 110 via the ground network.

Updating content files for aircraft based content servers 160 canrequire a large amount of data to be transferred from the ground basedcontent server 110 to the aircraft based content servers 160 and,potentially, vice versa. In an upload direction to the aircraft 150,movie and television programs, weather reports, news reports, electronicpublications, passenger manifests, airline operations data, and othercontent can be amongst the types of content files that must betransferred from the ground based content server 110 to the aircraftbased content server 160. In the download direction from the aircraft150, it can be desirable to transfer content generated during theflight, including IFE usage statistics, onboard food inventory reports,onboard product inventory reports, and onboard electronic systems healthmonitoring reports, from the aircraft based content server 160 to theground based content server 110 upon each arrival of the aircraft 150 toan airport terminal.

Unfortunately, the short range of IEEE 802.11 network protocols requiresthat system implementation involve modification of the airport facilityfrom the facility backhaul network to the aircraft gates. Cellularnetworks can also be used to transfer information to and from anaircraft while it is on the ground, but the relatively low bandwidthsupported by such networks and associated cost per megabyte fortransferring data can make transfer of IFE related content files andother large files insufficiently fast to enable completion of transferof content files while the aircraft 150 remains at an airport betweenflights and, even if completed, may result in prohibitive costs to doso.

Broadband satellite communications can be used to exchange data betweenan in-flight aircraft and the ground based content server 110. However,performance of satellite communications systems varies between the lowerspeed satellite communications (SATCOM) based systems (X.25, Swift64 orBGAN) to the higher speed KU band systems (ConneXion, Row44). Ingeneral, these satellite links are limited to between 64 Kbps and 20Mbps. This bandwidth must be shared by all users in a large geographicalarea. In addition, the current regulations on aircraft based KU Bandand/or KA Band service do not permit aircraft to ground transmission tooccur while the aircraft is on the ground. A single channel would beshared by many different aircraft at many different airports. Moreover,using satellite communications to transfer IFE related content files andother large files can be prohibitively expensive.

For these and other reasons, various embodiments disclosed herein aredirected to using the courier electronic devices 100 to transfer contentfiles between the ground based content server 110 and the aircraft basedcontent server 160. More particularly, the content distribution systemtransfers content files between the ground based server 110 and theaircraft based content server 160 via content fragments that aredistributed across the courier electronic devices 100 for transportationonboard and off-board the aircraft 150 by passengers.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of operational components of the ground basedcontent server 110 of FIG. 1 that generate and distribute contentfragments to the courier electronic devices 100 for transport onboard atarget aircraft, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Content server 110 includes a content fragment distributor300, a network interface 350, and may include a historical statisticsrepository 340 and a passenger aircraft reservation repository 330 thatwill be explained in further detail below.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, to transfer content files to the aircraft150, the ground based content server identifies (module 310) contentfiles that are to be delivered to the vehicle based content server 160on a target vehicle. Courier electronic devices 100 are identified(module 312) which are associated with persons who are scheduled tobecome passengers on the target vehicle 150 where the content files aredesired to be transferred. Each of the content files are fragmented(module 316) into content fragments, where the content fragmentscollectively contain all data necessary for reassembling the contentfiles. In contrast, at least one, and perhaps all, of the contentfragments is generated to not contain enough data to allow reassembly ofany one of the content files, according to at least one embodiment. Thecontent fragments are then distributed (module 322) from memory of theground based content server 110 across memory of the courier electronicdevices 100 that have been identified.

Identification (module 312) of courier electronic devices 100 that areassociated with persons who are scheduled to become passengers on thetarget vehicle 150, can include operating during a flight reservationsession between an application executed by one of the courier electronicdevices 100 and a passenger aircraft reservation repository 330contained in or otherwise accessible to the ground based content server110, to receive a message from the one of the courier electronic devices100 indicating permission for the ground based content server 110 totransfer a content fragment to memory of the one of the courierelectronic devices 100 for relay to the vehicle based content server 160of the target vehicle 150. Distribution (module 322) of the contentfragments from memory of the ground based content server 160 acrossmemory of the courier electronic devices 100 can include operations for,responsive to the message, communicating the content fragment to memoryof the one of the courier electronic devices 100 and initiatingoperations by the one of the courier electronic devices 100 to respondto subsequent establishment of a communication link between the one ofthe courier electronic devices 100 and the vehicle based content server160 of the target vehicle 150 by transferring the content fragment tothe vehicle based content server 160.

The distributing is performed so that each of the courier electronicdevices 100 is distributed one of the content fragments containing datathat is at least partially redundant with data contained in one of thecontent fragments that is distributed to at least one other one of thecourier electronic devices 100 and that is not redundant to datacontained in other ones of the content fragments that are distributed tostill other ones of the courier electronic devices 100.

Generating some of the content fragments so that they contain redundantdata can be advantageous because it is foreseeable that at least some ofthe identified courier electronic devices 100 will not be brought onboard the target aircraft 150 by the associated passengers for a flight,will not establish a communication link to the aircraft based contentserver 160 to enable transfer thereto, or will not remain connected forsufficient time to allow completion of transfer of the content fragmentstherein to the aircraft based content server 160 (e.g., due toinsufficient battery life and/or unexpected passenger interruption ofthe transfer). Because at least some of the content fragments containredundant data, the aircraft based content server 160 can assemble thecontent file using data from a plurality of received content fragmentsin spite of some of the content fragments not been received completelyand/or having no portion thereof received.

Distribution of the content fragments from the ground based contentserver 110 to the courier electronic devices 100 may be performedthrough a network interface 350 and communicatively connected to publicdata networks and/or private data networks 120, e.g., Internet, andwireless and/or wired data networks connected to the courier electronicdevices 100. Transfer of the content fragments may be performed during aperson's reservation of a scheduled flight on the target aircraft 150and/or thereafter using cellular radio access networks 130 and/or WiFiradio access networks 132, and/or while at an airport terminal awaitingthe scheduled flight using various airport terminal radio accessnetworks 140.

An amount of the redundancy in the data of at least some of the contentfragments that are to be distributed across the courier electronicdevices 100, can be controlled (module 316) based on a number of thecourier electronic devices 100 that have been identified as beingassociated with persons who are scheduled to become passengers on thetarget aircraft 110. In one embodiment, the amount of redundancy isincreased based on identifying a greater number of the courierelectronic devices 100 that are associated with persons who arescheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle 150. Similarly, theamount of redundancy is decreased based on identifying a lesser numberof the courier electronic devices 100 that are associated with personswho are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle 150.

For example, assume 20 courier electronic devices 100 would be needed totransport a collection of content fragments needed to assemble a contentfile, due to constraints of available memory in those courier electronicdevices 100 and/or due to one or more defined rules that constrain howmuch memory, communication bandwidth, battery power, and/or otherresources of any one or more courier electronic devices 100 that can beused to transfer data between the ground based content server 110 andthe aircraft based content server 160. In one approach, the contentfragments are transferred to be spread across the first 20 courierelectronic devices 100 that are identified as being associated withpersons who are scheduled for a same flight on the target aircraft 150.However, there is a risk that one or more of those 20 courier electronicdevices 100 will not be transported onto the target aircraft 150 or willnot otherwise operate to complete transfer of their respective contentfragments to the aircraft based content server 160, e.g., due toinsufficient battery life or the passenger turning off the device. Thiswould result in the aircraft based content server 160 being unable toreassemble the content file because of one or more necessary contentfragments not being available. The content fragments could betransferred to be spread across more than 20 courier electronic devicesto 100 so that there is a greater likelihood that at least 20 of thecourier electronic devices 100 will successfully complete theirrespective content fragments to the aircraft based content server 160.However, there's still a risk that a necessary one of the contentfragments will not be successfully uploaded from the one or more courierelectronic devices 100 storing the necessary content fragment. Thus, inat least one embodiment, the content fragments are generated withpartially redundant data so that, in the above example, receipt of 20 ormore content fragments from any of the courier electronic devices 100can enable the aircraft based content server 160 to successfullyreassemble the content file.

In a further embodiment, the amount of redundancy used when generatingthe content fragments is controlled based on use of historicalstatistics developed from reports of successful transfers completed inthe past for content fragments transported from the ground based contentserver to vehicle based content servers using the courier electronicdevices associated with the persons who are scheduled to becomepassengers on the target vehicle. In the example of FIG. 3, the groundbased content server 110 can contain or otherwise access a historicalstatistics repository 340 which contains information mapping passengers'names or other identifiers to courier electronic devices' identifiers(e.g., mobile phone serial numbers and/or other IDs), and further mapsthat information to statistics for prior reported uses of the identifiedcourier electronic devices that successfully and/or unsuccessfulcompleted transport of content fragments from the ground based contentserver 110 to aircraft based content servers 160. For privacy reasons orother purposes the historical statistics repository 340 may mapanonymized passenger identifiers, instead of passenger names, to courierelectronic device identifiers. The statistics may particularly identifywhich aircraft based content servers 160 the transfers were completedfor, so that the statistics reflect a particular passenger's likelihoodof using a particular courier electronic device in a way that allowssuccessful transfer of a content fragments. For example, the statisticsmay indicate that a particular passenger has brought on-board andallowed their cellular phone to complete such transfers during each oftwo flights between two identified cities and during each of threeflights between three other identified cities, the ground based contentserver 110 can use those statistics to more accurate predict thelikelihood that the particular passenger will properly serve as areliable courier of a data fragment for a particular upcoming scheduledflight between a pair of those same identified cities. Alternatively oradditionally, the statistics may identify the flight durations andcompleted transfers, so that the ground based content server 110 canpredict the likelihood that the particular passenger will properly serveas a reliable courier of a data fragment for a particular upcomingscheduled flight having a scheduled flight duration having a definedsimilarity to (e.g., within a threshold range of) one of the flightdurations indicated by the statistics.

In one embodiment, the amount of redundancy is increased based on thehistorical statistics indicating a lower likelihood of at least some ofthe courier electronic devices 100, which are associated with personswho are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle 150, beingboth present and operated upon boarding of the vehicle 150 by thepassengers to allow successful transfer of the content fragments fromthe at least some of the courier electronic devices 100 to the vehicle150 to enable reassembly of the content files by the vehicle basedcontent server 160. Similarly, the amount of redundancy is decreasedbased on the historical statistics indicating a higher likelihood of theat least some of the courier electronic devices 100, which areassociated with persons who are scheduled to become passengers on thetarget vehicle 150, being both present and operated upon boarding ofvehicle 150 by the passengers to allow successful transfer of thecontent fragments from the at least some of the courier electronicdevices 100 to the vehicle 150 to enable reassembly of the content filesby the vehicle based content server 160.

The amount of the redundancy can be controlled based on a number of thecourier electronic devices 100 that have completed receipt of thecontent fragments from the ground based content server 110 for transportto the target vehicle 150. In one embodiment, once content fragmentshave been transferred to a threshold number of courier electronicdevices 100, e.g., which may be sufficient to enable reassembly of acontent file, further content fragments can be generated to contain datathat is redundant with the earlier content fragments and which are thendistributed to at least some subsequently identified courier electronicdevices 100 to increase the likelihood that the aircraft based contentserver 160 will receive sufficient data from enough courier electronicdevices 100 to enable reassembly of the content file upon boarding ofthe passengers.

Continuing reference to FIG. 3, when dividing (module 316) each of thecontent files into content fragments, size of the content fragments canbe controlled based on a number of the courier electronic devices 100that are identified as associated with persons who are scheduled tobecome passengers on the target vehicle 150.

In one embodiment, size of the content fragments is controlled based onuse of historical statistics developed from reports of successfultransfers completed in the past for content fragments transported fromthe ground based content server to vehicle based content servers usingthe courier electronic devices associated with the persons who arescheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle. Statisticsobtained from the historical statistics repository 340 can be used todetermine the size of the content fragments are to be generated. Whenpassengers and associated courier electronic devices 100 are identifiedas having statistics that are favorable to the likelihood that contentfragments transferred thereto will be successfully uploaded to theaircraft based content server 160, the content fragments can begenerated to be larger since there is a higher likelihood of successfultransfer. In contrast, when the statistics indicating less favorablelikelihood that content fragments transferred thereto will besuccessfully uploaded, the content fragments can generate a smaller anddispersed across a greater number of courier electronic devices 100 tocompensate for lower historical success rate for those courierelectronic devices 100. The size of content fragments can be furthercontrolled in a similar manner to that described herein for controllingredundancy based on information contained in the historical statisticsrepository 340.

The content fragment distributor 300 may interleave (module 318) datacontained in the content fragments to generate interleaved contentfragments. The interleaved content fragments are then distributing fromthe memory of the ground based content server 110 across memory of thecourier electronic devices 100. Interleaving data contained in thecontent fragments can enable reassembly of a content file in spite ofsome otherwise necessary content fragments not been received by theaircraft based content server 160 from certain courier electronicdevices 100.

In one embodiment, when dividing (module 316) each of the content filesinto content fragments, an amount of redundancy of data contained insome of the content fragments is decreased based on identifying agreater number of the courier electronic devices 100 associated withpersons who are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle150. In contrast, the amount of redundancy of data contained in some ofthe content fragments is increased based on identifying a lesser numberof the courier electronic devices 100 associated with persons who arescheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle 150.

The content fragment distributor 300 may encrypt (module 320) thecontent fragments before distribution to the courier electronic devices100. Encrypting data contained in the content fragments can prevent aperson who possesses the courier electronic device 100 from using thedata. The content fragment distributor 300 may alternatively oradditionally interleave data contained in a content file across aplurality of content fragments. Interleaving data in this manner canincrease the ability of the receiving device to reassemble the originalcontent firm in spite of missing one of the data fragments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an aircraft on-board content distributionsystem that transfers content fragments between onboard courierelectronic devices 100 and the aircraft based content server 160, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is ablock diagram of operational components of the aircraft based contentserver 160 of FIG. 1 that receive content fragments from onboard courierelectronic devices 100 and reassemble the original content files, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, the aircraft based content server 160discovers (module 410) presence of content fragments stored in memory ofcourier electronic devices 100 that have been transported onto thevehicle 150 by passengers and which have established communication linkswith the vehicle based content server 160. The vehicle based contentserver 160 may communicate via a data network 180 and wired connectionsto some onboard courier electronic devices 100 and/or wirelessconnections to other onboard courier electronic devices 100. Wiredcommunication links may be established using network interfaces (e.g.,USB ports) located at passenger seats, which may be connected to seatvideo display units 190 at each seat location. Wireless communicationlinks may be established through wireless access points 152. Somecourier electronic devices may wirelessly communicate directly with thewireless access points 152. Some other courier electronic devices 100may wirelessly communicate indirectly with the wireless access points152 via seat video display units 190 which relay communications directlybetween those courier electronic devices 100 and the wireless accesspoints 152. Still some other current electronic devices may communicatethrough wired connections to the seat video display units 190 (e.g., viaUSB ports) which relay data through wireless links with the wirelessaccess points 152.

The aircraft based content server 160 fetches (module 420) the contentfragments from the courier electronic devices 100, responsive to thediscovering. The content server 160 reassembles module 426) the contentfiles by combining at least some of the content fragments, and providescontent of the content files for playing through video display unitsoperated by passengers.

As explained above, the reassembled content can be streamed and/ordownloaded to seat video display units 190 and/or to courier electronicdevices 100 responsive to user content requests. To provide the contentfiles to passengers, the aircraft based content server 160 can add thecontent files to a listing of content files that are available foron-demand consumption through the video display units, and may furtherrespond to on-demand content selection messages by streaming the contentof the content files to the video display units attached to passengerseats, e.g., seat video display units 190, and/or to video display unitswithin passenger courier electronic devices.

The aircraft based content server 160 may additionally or alternativelyprovide the content files to the crew information terminals that may bemounted within the aircraft 150 and/or transported onboard bycrewmembers.

To fetch (module 420) the content fragments from the courier electronicdevices 100, the aircraft based content server 160 can initiateconcurrent transfer of the content fragments from the courier electronicdevices 100. For example, as each courier electronic device 100 iscarried onboard the aircraft 150 and establishes a communication link tothe content server 160, the content server 160 can responsivelycommunicate with the courier electronic device 100 to initiate transferof its content fragment while ongoing transfer of other contentfragments are being performed with earlier initiated transfers fromother courier electronic devices 100 and which may continue current withsubsequently initiated transfers of content fragments from subsequentlyidentified courier electronic devices 100.

The content fragments being transferred from a first group of thecourier electronic devices can contain data that is at least partiallyredundant with each other within the first group, and the contentfragments being transferred from a second group of the courierelectronic devices can contain data that is at least partially redundantwith each other within the second group. The remaining transfer ofcontent fragments from at least one of the first group of the courierelectronic devices 100 can be terminated by the aircraft based contentserver 160 responsive to completing assembly of a first content filefrom a combination of partial content fragments received from at leastsome of the first group of the courier electronic devices 100 using theredundant data therein to supply data not yet received from the at leastone of the first group of the courier electronic devices 100. Similarly,the remaining transfer of content fragments from at least one of thesecond group of the courier electronic devices 100 can be terminated bythe aircraft based content server 160 responsive to completing assemblyof a second content files from a combination of partial contentfragments received from at least some of the second group of the courierelectronic devices 100 using the redundant data therein to supply datanot yet received from the at least one of the second group of thecourier electronic devices 100.

The aircraft based content server 160 can identify (module 412) acontent file that cannot be assembled because of at least one contentfragment which is required to assemble the content file but is missingfrom memory of the courier electronic devices 100 discovered as havingestablished communication links with the vehicle based content server160. While off-board communications are permitted by courier electronicdevices 100, such as before the cabin doors are closed in preparationfor aircraft takeoff, the aircraft based content server 160 can attemptto fetch the missing content file through one or more of the identifiedcourier electronic devices 100 off-board communication capability, suchas through a cellular communication transceiver of the courierelectronic device(s) 100 (block 416).

Accordingly, the aircraft based content server 160 can identify throughthe communication links which of the courier electronic devices 100 haveongoing off-board communication links that can be used to retrievecontent fragments from the ground based content server, and fetch the atleast one content fragment from the content server using communicationsrouted through at least one of the courier electronic devices identifiedas having the ongoing off-board communication links.

In one embodiment, the aircraft based content server 160 communicates amessage through one of the wireless access points 152 to an applicationon one of the courier electronic devices 100, which causes the courierelectronic device 100 to use a cellular transceiver of the courierelectronic device 100 to communicate through a cellular network outsidethe aircraft 150 to establish a communication link with the ground basedcontent server 110 and fetch the missing content fragment(s) therefrom.The aircraft-based content server 160 may similarly communicate with aplurality of the identified courier electronic devices 100 to initiateconcurrent fetching of the same missing content fragment from the groundbased content server 110 through the cellular transceivers of therespective courier electronic devices 100. Such redundant fetchingoperations can increase the likelihood that the missing content fragmentwill be successfully retrieved by at least one of the initiatedtransfers.

A module 428 may control initiation and termination of such off-boardfetching of content fragments via identified ones of the courierelectronic devices 100 based on prioritization of which of the contentfragments are most needed to enable assembly of content files havingrelative prioritized importance. When concurrent redundant transfers areinitiated for the same missing content fragment, successful receiptand/or reassembly of the missing content fragment through one or more ofthe operated courier electronic devices 110 triggers the module 428 toterminate any continuing fetching of that same content fragment by otherones of the courier electronic devices 100. In one embodiment, themodule 428 terminates any continuing fetching of that same contentfragment by other ones of the courier electronic devices 100 when athreshold number (e.g., one) of the courier electronic devices 100successfully receives that content fragment and before that contentfragment has been relayed from the courier electronic device(s) 100 tothe aircraft based content server 160. This early terminal allows moreefficient use of communication resources of the courier electronicdevices 100 (i.e., reducing communication costs imposed on thepassenger(s)) since transfer of a large content fragment from thecourier electronic device(s) 100 to the aircraft based content server160 may take minutes during which continuing transfer of the contentfragment by some of the courier electronic device(s) 100 from off-boardto on-board the aircraft is anticipated to be unnecessary.

Similarly, responsive to the missing content fragment being subsequentlyidentified as available on a threshold number of onboard courierelectronic devices 100, the module 428 can terminate any continuingfetching of that same content fragment by the courier electronic devices100. In this manner, the aircraft based content server 160 can rapidlyinitiate fetching of missing content fragments as courier electronicdevices 100 are brought on board and linked to the aircraft basedcontent server 160, and such transfers can be dynamically controlled toprioritize continuing transfer of only those content fragments thatremain identified as being unavailable among any of the courierelectronic devices 100 that are subsequently brought on board and linkedto the aircraft based content server 160.

The aircraft based content server 160 may additionally or alternativelyuse an available aircraft ground data interface 170 to fetch (module418) the missing content fragment through a cellular communication link.Thus, the courier electronic devices 110 can reduce or in somesituations eliminate the need for use of the ground datalink interface170 for transferring content files onboard and off-of the aircraft 150.

In some embodiments, the ground based content server 110 or other groundconnectivity component can communicate with the courier electronicdevices 100 to track their location, e.g., via GPS, with respect to anaircraft and, perhaps, before the courier electronic devices 100 havebecome connected to the onboard aircraft communication network. Theground based content server 110 can track proximity of the courierelectronic devices 100 to a departure location and time of the aircraftto predict the probability of various content fragments being carriedonto the aircraft, and can responsively control download of contentfragments to those or other courier electronic devices 100. Furthermore,the ground based content server 110 may track progress of ongoingtransfers of content fragments from courier electronic devices 100 tothe onboard content server 160 and predict the probability of variouscontent fragments successfully completing the transfer, and mayresponsively control download of content fragments to those or othercourier electronic devices 100.

In some further operations, the aircraft based content server 160identifies (module 412) a plurality of content files that cannot beassembled because of absent content fragments which are required toassemble the plurality of content files but are missing from memory ofthe courier electronic devices 100 discovered as having establishedcommunication links with the vehicle based content server 160. Thecontent server 160 identifies through the communication links which ofthe courier electronic devices 100 have ongoing off-board communicationlinks (e.g., communication connections to cellular transceiver basestations outside the aircraft 150) that can be used to retrieve contentfragments from the ground based content server, and concurrently fetchesthe absent content fragments from the ground based content server 110using communications routed through a plurality of the courierelectronic devices 100 identified as having the ongoing off-boardcommunication links.

In one embodiment, a first group of the absent content fragments beingfetched through a first group of the courier electronic devices 100identified as having the ongoing off-board communication links containdata that is at least partially redundant with each other within thefirst group, and a second group of the absent content fragments beingfetched through a second group of the courier electronic devices 100identified as having the ongoing off-board communication links containdata that is at least partially redundant with each other within thesecond group.

The aircraft based content server 160 terminates (module 428) remainingfetching of the first group of the absent content fragments through atleast one of the first group of the courier electronic devices 100responsive to completing assembly of a first content file from acombination of partial fetches of the first group of the absent contentfragments received from the ground based content server 110 using theredundant data therein to supply data not yet received from the at leastone of the first group of the courier electronic devices 100. Similarly,the content server 160 terminates remaining fetching of the second groupof the absent content fragments through at least one of the second groupof the courier electronic devices 100 responsive to completing assemblyof a second content file from a combination of partial fetches of thesecond group of the absent content fragments received from the groundbased content server 110 using the redundant data therein to supply datanot yet received from the at least one of the second group of thecourier electronic devices 100.

To assemble the content files by combining at least some of the contentfragments, the aircraft based content server 160 may decrypt (module422) the content fragments to generate decrypted content fragments,de-interleaved (module 424) data contained in the decrypted contentfragments to generate de-interleaved data, and assemble (module 426) thecontent files from the de-interleaved data.

The courier electronic devices 100 can similarly be used to transportcontent files from the aircraft based content server 160 to the groundbased content server 110. The operations to perform such transfers caninclude the aircraft based content server 160 identifying downlinkcontent to be delivered to the ground based content server 110 via thecourier electronic devices 100. The downlink content is divided intodownlink content fragments, where the downlink content fragmentscollectively contain all data necessary for reassembling the downlinkcontent. The downlink content fragments are then distributed from theaircraft based content server across memory of the courier electronicdevices that have been discovered. The distributing is performed so thateach of the courier electronic devices 100 is distributed one of thedownlink content fragments containing data that is at least partiallyredundant with data contained in one of the downlink content fragmentsthat is distributed to at least one other one of the courier electronicdevices 100 and that is not redundant to data contained in other ones ofthe downlink content fragments that are distributed to still other onesof the courier electronic devices 100. Distributing redundant data canprovide various advantages as described above.

Various further operational embodiments are now described in the contextof FIG. 5 which is a combined flowchart and data flow diagram thatillustrates operations and data transfers between a passenger electronicdevice 100, the ground based content server 110, and the aircraft basedcontent server 160. In the example of FIG. 5, the person is a plannedpassenger so the courier electronic device 100 is also referred to as apassenger electronic device 100.

Referring to FIG. 5, the passenger electronic device 100 communicates ascheduling message to the ground based content server 160 indicating anupcoming flight schedule for a person who possesses the courierelectronic device 100. In the example embodiment, a person downloads(block 500) an application to the passenger electronic device 100 whichperforms operations for communicating with the ground based contentserver 110 and the aircraft based content server 160 to enable thepassenger electronic device 100 to be used to transfer content fragmentsthere between. The application may be a flight reservation applicationthat is operated by a person to review available flight schedules andbook (block 502) a scheduled flight through the ground based contentserver 110 and/or another ground based server. During the reservationprocess or separate therefrom, the application cooperatively identifies(block 504) the upcoming flight to the ground based content server 110.The ground based content server 110 tracks (block 506) upcomingscheduled flights and passenger electronic devices which are associatedwith passengers who have confirmed reservations on those flights, andidentifies content files that are desired to be transferred to contentservers of aircraft which are scheduled to perform or are otherwiselikely to perform those flight schedules. The ground based contentserver 110 generates the content fragments from those content files asexplained above.

The person may control whether the passenger electronic device 100 isallowed to be used to carry a content fragments to the aircraft forupload, such as through a user permission setting provided by theapplication. Persons may be incentivized by the airline to participatein allowing their devices to be used to receive content fragments fromthe ground based content server 110 and later upon boarding of theaircraft to perform further steps that will be necessary to allow thedevices to establish communication links with the aircraft based contentserver 160 and remain operational for a sufficient time that will allowthe airplane based content server 160 to complete transfer of contentfragments therefrom. For example, upon boarding the aircraft a passengermay need to operate the passenger electronic device to establish a WiFiconnection to a wireless access point 152 within the aircraft, and startthe application to allow the application to perform the necessarytransfer operation.

As an incentive from the airline for a passenger to participate inallowing successful transfer of one or more content fragments using thepassenger's electronic device, the passenger may be provided free ordiscounted Internet access through in-cabin WiFi links to off-boardsatellite communication links, and/or may be provided free or discountedaccess to premium entertainment content through the aircraft IFE system.

Accordingly, when allowed, the ground based content server 110 transfersone or more content fragments to the passenger electronic device 100,which stores (block 508) the content fragments in local memory. Eachcontent fragment can be an incomplete fragment of a content file, suchthat the content file cannot be regenerated using only data contained inthe content fragment. Moreover, when the ground based content server 110transfers a plurality of content fragments to the passenger electronicdevice 100, the plurality of content fragments may be an incompleterepresentation of the content file, such that the content file cannot beregenerated using only data contained in the plurality of contentfragments.

Upon boarding an aircraft for the scheduled flight, the passengeroperates (block 510) that passenger electronic device 100 to establish acommunication link to the aircraft based content server 160 and initiatetransfer of the content fragment from the local memory of the passengerelectronic device 100 to the aircraft based content server 160. Theaircraft based content server 160 may dynamically develop and inventorythat identifies what content fragments are available among passengerelectronic devices 100 that have been linked thereto, and may predict(block 512) therefrom which content fragments will be locallyunavailable, such as due to some passenger electronic devices 100 notbeing present on the aircraft 150 and/or not been turned on or otherwisecommunicatively linked to the aircraft based content server 160.

The aircraft based content server 160 may then attempt to fetch thepredicted locally unavailable content fragments using off-boardcommunication links that are determined to be available between thepassenger electronic devices 100 and ground based network equipment,e.g., cellular radio base stations, which is network connected to theground based content server 110 and/or to use an off-board communicationlink that is determined to be available through the ground datalinkinterface 170. Because the ground data links may be available only whilethe aircraft remains at a gate or otherwise on the ground, there is ashort window of opportunity for the aircraft based content server 160 torequest and complete any fetching of locally unavailable contentfragments from the ground based content server 110. The aircraft basedcontent server 160 may therefore initiate fetching of the locallyunavailable content fragments when a threshold number of passengerelectronic devices 100 have been linked to the server 160 and whilepassengers are continuing to board the aircraft 150. Although thecontent fragments being uploaded to the aircraft based content server160 may be used to reassemble a content file intended for use during anext flight segment, the content file may not be necessary for the nextflight segment but more generally desired to be made accessible by theend of a longer time frame, such as within a week. When a content fileis desired to be accessible by the end of a longer time frame thecontent fragments generated therefrom may be distributed to passengerswho are scheduled to fly on that aircraft sometime during that timeframe.

Aircraft based content server 160 therefore generates (block 514)off-board fragment fetch requests which are communicated to at leastsome of the passenger electronic devices 100. The off-board fragmentfetch request messages contain information that identifies which contentfragments are requested from the ground based content server 110 andidentifies the network address of the ground based content server 110.The passenger electronic devices 100 respond to the off-board fragmentfetch request messages by forwarding (block 516) the messages to theground based content server 110 using the identified network address.The ground based content server 110 receives and responds to the requestmessages by sending (block 518) the requested content fragments to theapplication on the passenger electronic devices 100, which forwards thereceived content fragments to the aircraft based content server 160. Theaircraft based content server 160 receives the previously missingcontent fragments from the passenger electronic device 100, andreassembles (block 520) the content files therefrom.

The aircraft based content server 160 can then serve content files tothe passenger electronic devices 100, seat video display units, crewterminals, and other electronic devices that are communicativelyconnected to the aircraft based content server 160. For example, thepassenger electronic devices 100 can display on a display device a listof available content files residing on the aircraft based content server160, and respond to a passenger selection by communicating a contentselection message to the vehicle based content server 160 indicating aperson's selection of a content file from among the list of contentfiles, which is triggers retrieving (block 522) and displaying ofcontent of the selected content file, e.g., receive and display astreaming movie, from the aircraft based content server 160.

As explained above, the passenger electronic devices 100 can be used totransport content files from the aircraft based content server 160 tothe ground based content server 110. The aircraft based content server160 generates (block 526) new content fragments from content files thatare to be carried off-board, and distributes the new content fragmentsto the passenger electronic devices 100. The content files and that maybe selected for off-board transport can include, without limitation, IFEusage statistics, onboard food inventory reports, onboard productinventory reports, onboard electronic systems health monitoring reports,and flight performance reports. The passenger electronic device 100receives and stores (block 528) the content fragment(s) downloaded fromthe aircraft based content server 160 for transfer to the ground basedcontent server 110. At the end of the flight, the passenger deplanes andtransports the passenger electronic device 100 to the airport terminalelsewhere where the passenger electronic device 100 reconnects (block530) by operation of the application to the ground based content server110 through a ground based communication network. Content files may becopied from one aircraft to another aircraft by dispersing the relatedcontent fragments to passengers who are scheduled to subsequently fly onthe next aircraft.

The passenger electronic device 100, via the application, communicates(block 532) the content fragments received from the aircraft basedcontent server 160 to the ground based content server 110, whichreceives the content fragments and reassembles (block 534) the contentfiles from the aircraft based content server 160. The ground basedcontent server 110 may distribute other content files to the passengerelectronic device 100 if identified as being scheduled for a futureaircraft flight.

Example Content Server and Courier Electronic Device

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a content server configured to operateaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The contentserver may be configured to operate as the ground based content server110 and/or the aircraft based content server 160 disclosed herein.Referring to FIG. 6, the content server includes a processor 600, amemory 610, and a network interface 620 which may include a radio accessnetwork transceiver and/or a wired network interface (e.g., Ethernetinterface). The network interface 620 is configured to communicate withcourier electronic devices 100.

The processor 600 may include one or more data processing circuits, suchas a general purpose and/or special purpose processor (e.g.,microprocessor and/or digital signal processor) that may be collocatedor distributed across one or more networks. The processor 600 isconfigured to execute computer program code in the memory 610, describedbelow as a non-transitory computer readable medium, to perform at leastsome of the operations described herein as being performed by an accesscontrol computer. The computer program code when executed by theprocessor 600 causes the processor 600 to perform operations inaccordance with one or more embodiments disclosed herein for the groundbased content server 110 and/or the aircraft based content server 160.The content server may further include a user input interface 640 (e.g.,touch screen, keyboard, keypad, etc.) and a display device 642.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a courier electronic device 100 configuredto operate according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.Referring to FIG. 7, the courier electronic device 100 includes aprocessor 700, a memory 710, and a radio network transceiver 710 whichcan include, but is not limited to, a LTE or other cellular transceiver,WLAN transceiver (IEEE 802.11), WiMax transceiver, or other radiocommunication transceiver or wired network interface (e.g., Ethernetand/or USB) configured to communicate with the ground based contentserver 110 and/or the aircraft based content server 160.

The processor 700 may include one or more data processing circuits, suchas a general purpose and/or special purpose processor (e.g.,microprocessor and/or digital signal processor) that may be collocatedor distributed across one or more networks. The processor 700 isconfigured to execute computer program code in the memory 710, describedbelow as a non-transitory computer readable medium, to perform at leastsome of the operations described herein as being performed by an accesscontrol computer. The computer program code when executed by theprocessor 700 causes the processor 700 to perform operations inaccordance with one or more embodiments disclosed herein for the courierelectronic device 100. The courier electronic device 100 may furtherinclude a user input interface 730 (e.g., touch screen, keyboard,keypad, etc.) and a display device 732.

Further Definitions and Embodiments

In the above-description of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated anddescribed herein in any of a number of patentable classes or contextsincluding any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, orcomposition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented inentirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, residentsoftware, micro-code, etc.) or combining software and hardwareimplementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a“circuit,” “module,” “component,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects ofthe present disclosure may take the form of a computer program productcomprising one or more computer readable media having computer readableprogram code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable media may be used. Thecomputer readable media may be a computer readable signal medium or acomputer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium maybe, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (anon-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium wouldinclude the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an appropriateoptical fiber with a repeater, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document,a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain, or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program codeembodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted usingany appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent disclosure may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.NET,Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, suchas the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby andGroovy, or other programming languages. The program code may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as aservice such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).

Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable instruction executionapparatus, create a mechanism for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that when executed can direct a computer, otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function ina particular manner, such that the instructions when stored in thecomputer readable medium produce an article of manufacture includinginstructions which when executed, cause a computer to implement thefunction/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable instruction execution apparatus, or otherdevices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on thecomputer, other programmable apparatuses or other devices to produce acomputer implemented process such that the instructions which execute onthe computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for thepurpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended tobe limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms(including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the samemeaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art towhich this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of this specification and the relevant art and will not beinterpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly sodefined herein.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousaspects of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularaspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items. Like reference numbers signify like elements throughoutthe description of the figures.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of anymeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any disclosed structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. The aspects of the disclosure herein were chosen anddescribed in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure andthe practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in theart to understand the disclosure with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated.

1. A method by at least one processor of a ground based content serverto transfer content to a vehicle based content server, the methodcomprising: identifying content files to be delivered to a vehicle basedcontent server on a target vehicle, identifying courier electronicdevices that are associated with persons who are scheduled to becomepassengers on the target vehicle, dividing each of the content filesinto content fragments, wherein the content fragments collectivelycontain all data necessary for reassembling the content files, anddistributing the content fragments from memory of the ground basedcontent server across memory of the courier electronic devices that havebeen identified, wherein the distributing is performed so that each ofthe courier electronic devices is distributed one of the contentfragments containing data that is at least partially redundant with datacontained in one of the content fragments that is distributed to atleast one other one of the courier electronic devices and that is notredundant to data contained in other ones of the content fragments thatare distributed to still other ones of the courier electronic devices.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the distributing the content fragmentsfrom memory of the ground based content server across memory of thecourier electronic devices that have been identified, further comprises:controlling an amount of the redundancy in the data of some of thecontent fragments distributed across the courier electronic devices,based on a number of the courier electronic devices that are identifiedas associated with persons who are scheduled to become passengers on thetarget vehicle.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling anamount of the redundancy in the data of some of the content fragmentsdistributed across the courier electronic devices, based on a number ofthe courier electronic devices that are identified as associated withpersons who are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle,comprises: decreasing the amount of redundancy based on identifying agreater number of the courier electronic devices associated with personswho are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle; andincreasing the amount of redundancy based on identifying a lesser numberof the courier electronic devices associated with persons who arescheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the controlling an amount of the redundancy in the dataof some of the content fragments distributed across the courierelectronic devices, based on a number of the courier electronic devicesthat are identified as associated with persons who are scheduled tobecome passengers on the target vehicle, further comprises: controllingthe amount of redundancy based on use of historical statistics developedfrom reports of successful transfers completed in the past for contentfragments transported from the ground based content server to vehiclebased content servers using the courier electronic devices associatedwith the persons who are scheduled to become passengers on the targetvehicle.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the historical statistics arecontained in or accessed by the ground based content server in ahistorical statistics repository containing information mapping apassenger identifier to a courier electric device identifier and mappingthe passenger identifier and courier electric device identifier to thereports of successful transfers completed in the past.
 6. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the controlling the amount of redundancy based on useof historical statistics developed from reports of successful transferscompleted in the past for content fragments transported from the groundbased content server to vehicle based content servers using the courierelectronic devices associated with the persons who are scheduled tobecome passengers on the target vehicle, comprises: increasing theamount of redundancy based on the historical statistics indicating alower likelihood of at least some of the courier electronic devices,associated with persons who are scheduled to become passengers on thetarget vehicle, being both present and operated upon boarding of thevehicle by the passengers to allow successful transfer of the contentfragments from the at least some of the courier electronic devices tothe vehicle to enable reassembly of the content files by the vehiclebased content server; and decreasing the amount of redundancy based onthe historical statistics indicating a higher likelihood of the at leastsome of the courier electronic devices, associated with persons who arescheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle, being both presentand operated upon boarding of the vehicle by the passengers to allowsuccessful transfer of the content fragments from the at least some ofthe courier electronic devices to the vehicle to enable reassembly ofthe content files by the vehicle based content server.
 7. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the controlling an amount of the redundancy in the dataof some of the content fragments distributed across the courierelectronic devices, based on a number of the courier electronic devicesthat are identified as associated with persons who are scheduled tobecome passengers on the target vehicle, further comprises: controllingthe amount of the redundancy based on a number of the courier electronicdevices that have completed receipt of the content fragments from theground based content server for transport to the target vehicle.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the dividing each of the content files intocontent fragments, wherein the content fragments collectively containall data necessary for reassembling the content files, comprises:controlling size of the content fragments based on a number of thecourier electronic devices that are identified as associated withpersons who are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the controlling size of the contentfragments based on a number of the courier electronic devices that areidentified as associated with persons who are scheduled to becomepassengers on the target vehicle, comprises: controlling size of thecontent fragments based on use of historical statistics developed fromreports of successful transfers completed in the past for contentfragments transported from the ground based content server to vehiclebased content servers using the courier electronic devices associatedwith the persons who are scheduled to become passengers on the targetvehicle.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the historical statisticsare contained in or accessed by the ground based content server in ahistorical statistics repository containing information mapping apassenger identifier to a courier electric device identifier and mappingthe passenger identifier and courier electric device identifier to thereports of successful transfers completed in the past.
 11. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the controlling the size of the content fragments basedon a number of the courier electronic devices that are identified asassociated with persons who are scheduled to become passengers on thetarget vehicle, comprises: increasing the size of a content fragment, tobe sent to a courier electronic device, based on the historicalstatistics indicating the courier electronic device having a higherlikelihood of the content fragment, transferred to the courierelectronic device, being successfully uploaded to the vehicle basedcontent server; and decreasing the size of a content fragment, to besent to a courier electronic device, based on the historical statisticsindicating the courier electronic device having a lower likelihood ofthe content fragment, transferred to the courier electronic device,being successfully uploaded to the vehicle based content server.
 12. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: interleaving data contained inthe content fragments to generate interleaved content fragments, whereinthe interleaved content fragments are distributing from the memory ofthe ground based content server across memory of the courier electronicdevices.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the dividing each of thecontent files into content fragments, wherein the content fragmentscollectively contain all data necessary for reassembling the contentfiles, further comprises: increasing an amount of redundancy of datacontained in some of the content fragments based on identifying agreater number of the courier electronic devices associated with personswho are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle; anddecreasing the amount of redundancy of data contained in some of thecontent fragments based on identifying a lesser number of the courierelectronic devices associated with persons who are scheduled to becomepassengers on the target vehicle.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein:the identifying courier electronic devices that are associated withpersons who are scheduled to become passengers on the target vehicle,comprises during a flight reservation session between an applicationexecuted by one of the courier electronic devices and the ground basedcontent server, receiving a message from the one of the courierelectronic devices indicating permission for the ground based contentserver to transfer a content fragment to memory of the one of thecourier electronic devices for relay to the vehicle based content serverof the target vehicle; and the distributing the content fragments frommemory of the ground based content server across memory of the courierelectronic devices that have been identified, comprises responsive tothe message, communicating the content fragment to memory of the one ofthe courier electronic devices and initiating operations by the one ofthe courier electronic devices to respond to subsequent establishment ofa communication link between the one of the courier electronic devicesand the vehicle based content server of the target vehicle bytransferring the content fragment to the vehicle based content server.15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: tracking proximity of thecourier electronic devices relative to a departure location and time ofthe vehicle; and predicting a probability of various of the contentfragments being carried onto the vehicle based on the tracked proximity.16. The method of claim 15, wherein the distributing the contentfragments from memory of the ground based content server across memoryof the courier electronic devices that have been identified, furthercomprises: controlling the distribution of content fragments to thecourier electronic devices based on the predicted probability of variousof the content fragments being carried onto the target vehicle.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the controlling of the distribution ofcontent fragments to the courier electronic devices comprises:distributing the content fragments to an increased number of courierelectronic devices based on the predicted probability being low; anddistributing the content fragments to a decreased number of courierelectronic devices based on the predicted probability being high. 18.The method of claim 1, wherein the ground based content server encryptsthe content fragments prior to distributing the content fragments frommemory of the ground based content server across memory of the courierelectronic devices that have been identified.
 19. The method of claim 1,further comprising: tracking progress of transfers of content fragmentsfrom courier electronic devices to the vehicle based content server;predicting a probability of various of the content fragmentssuccessfully completing the transfer to the vehicle based content serverbased on the tracked progress; and wherein the distributing the contentfragments from memory of the ground based content server across memoryof the courier electronic devices that have been identified, furthercomprises: controlling the distribution of content fragments to thecourier electronic devices based on the predicted probability of variousof the content fragments successfully completing the transfer to thevehicle.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the controlling of thedistribution of content fragments to the courier electronic devicescomprises: distributing the content fragments to an increased number ofcourier electronic devices based on the predicted probability being low;and distributing the content fragments to a decreased number of courierelectronic devices based on the predicted probability being high.